L.A., OAKLAND, D.C. MAYORS DISCUSS CHALLENGES.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer Three mayors from three cities The Three Cities is a collective description of the three fortified cities of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea on the Island of Malta, which are enclosed by the massive line of fortification created by the Knights of St John, the Cottonera Lines. across the nation agreed Tuesday that they face the same problems of crime, poor education, inadequate housing and higher demands at a time when they are facing cuts in funding and reductions in service. ``It is the one thing local government does that the state and federal government doesn't do and that's provide service,'' Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California said during a panel discussion of the Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. ``All cities do is provide service. If we have to lay off people, that means less service. That means a degradation of the quality of life.'' Hahn was joined on the panel by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and Mayor Anthony Williams of the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). , who found themselves in agreement on the needs they faced to revitalize cities in a sour economy. Brown, who served as California governor, complained about many of the policies enacted during his term and since that hamstring local officials in their desire to rebuild their cities. ``Before I was elected, I didn't think much about cities,'' Brown said. ``What I've learned is that you need to govern with an iron fist in a velvet glove to get anything accomplished.'' All three agreed that the major problem facing cities is that of improving education where there is functional illiteracy functional illiteracy Social medicine The inability to read and write enough to effectively function in an office or business. Cf Complete illiteracy. resulting from high dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human rates and a lack of motivation. Hahn said he does not believe it would be possible for a mayor in California to seize control of a school system - as has been done in Chicago and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. - to try to make improvements. ``I don't think the politics are there,' Hahn said. ``Even though voters don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. their (school board members') names and they do know the mayor, it won't happen.'' Instead, Hahn said he is left trying to pay for supplemental programs. Williams, who was able to gain partial control of the District of Columbia Board of Education, said a mayor needs to have total authority. ``What we have now is like trying to drive a car with one pedal,'' Williams said, adding that he believes cities will be successful only if they are able to offer quality education to children of middle-class parents. Brown said improving education also would help cities deal with crime problems. ``When you have someone with a seventh-grade education and no other opportunities, all they know how to do is hustle,'' Brown said. ``And, that gets them into prisons where they don't learn anything and don't do anything until they are released and come out and commit more crimes and go back to prison.'' |
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